Transcript

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>> Candidates line the highways and campaigning is underway for crucial elections in Iraq.

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is is Basra, the heartlands of Iraq's Shiite power. United for decades in their fight against Saddam Hussein's oppression, that unity is now breaking apart. Voters that once blindly cast ballots along sectarian lines are now turning their anger towards a Shiite led governments, saying they failed to repair crumbling infrastructure, provide jobs or end violence.

00:00:34

>>

FOREIGN]

> May's voters seen as crucial to a stable post Islamic state Iraq.

00:00:53

It could also hand Iran a chance to meddle further in Iraq's politics. Since Saddam's fall, the Prime minister has always come from the Shiites majority, with a Kurdish President and a Sunni Speaker. It's an informal arrangement. In the pas,there's typically been one Shiite leader with enough support to form a ruling coalition government.

00:01:14

This time, there are three frontrunners. And with no clear winner, Iran could act as a broker between the Shiite parties and influence who becomes Prime Minister. Abut 60% of Iraquis at 27 or younger and many young people in cities say they want a secular government and a Shiite candidate recognizes this.

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00:02:02

The militants divided much of the country along sectarian lines. But the country's lawmakers may no longer be able to rely on sectarian faultlines to win votes.